Eric Cheng

Fired over his own video; nothing he said has been adjudicated. Eric Cheng, a part-time staffer on Nithya Raman’s Los Angeles mayoral campaign, was removed from the campaign on November 2, 2026, a day after a video of him discussing Michigan’s Senate race spread on X. His campaign work had already been named in unadjudicated FPPC and L.A. Ethics Commission complaints over influencer-payment disclosure, which the campaign denied wrongdoing over. The firing is a private employment decision by the campaign; no legal claim against Cheng is reported, and Cheng has not publicly responded to the video’s circulation or the firing.

Introduction

Eric Cheng, a Los Angeles political influencer who worked on Nithya Raman’s mayoral campaign coordinating relationships with content creators, was fired on November 2, 2026, after a video of him discussing Michigan’s Senate race drew accusations of racism from the campaign’s opponents and a public condemnation from Raman’s own campaign . In the video, Cheng said of congresswoman and former Michigan Senate candidate Haley Stevens: “Turns out basically Haley tried to brainwash a lot of the black vote…” . The account that surfaced the video called it a “racist and anti-Semitic rant,” the New York Post branded it a “‘racist’ video” in its headline, and Raman’s campaign called the comments “reprehensible,” apologized, and announced “this staffer is no longer with the campaign” .

Background Information

Cheng worked for Raman’s campaign as a part-time staffer whose role was coordinating the campaign’s relationships with content creators — one of the paid-influencer arrangements that have become central to Los Angeles politics and, increasingly, to its ethics enforcement . He had been a paid creator on Tom Steyer’s California gubernatorial campaign before joining Raman’s; a campaign spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times that Cheng is paid for campaign work rather than for posts on his personal account, that the campaign had sought guidance from L.A. Ethics Commission staff on his disclosure requirements, and that Cheng had announced his move to the campaign on his own account before he started . His Raman role had already put his name in two regulatory filings: complaints accusing the campaign of paying influencers without proper sponsorship disclosure .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The video that ended Cheng’s campaign job appeared on X in the early hours of November 2, 2026, when the X account @BonninMike — display name Mike Bonin — posted it with the caption: “Nithya Raman staffer crashes out in wild racist and anti-Semitic rant over Michigan. Claims black people are ‘brainwashed’ and Stevens wants universal healthcare in Israel, not America” . The New York Post linked that post as the video in which Cheng said “Turns out basically Haley tried to brainwash a lot of the black vote…,” referring to the race between Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed . Around 4:41 a.m. UTC, political consultant Mike Trujillo — who backs Raman’s opponent, incumbent mayor Karen Bass — quote-posted it to his own followers: “This isn’t even funny. Nithya Raman staffer posts a video where he claims Congresswoman Haley Stevens has ‘brainwashed’ the black vote in Michigan,” adding, “Dude, what is it with your campaign and the constant ignorance of the African American community?” and asking whether the campaign would apologize “or will this take six days too” .

The campaign’s answer came within the hour. At 5:31 a.m. UTC on November 2, Raman’s campaign posted on X from its TeamNithya account: “We’re aware of a video posted by a part-time staffer on his personal social media account commenting about the Michigan Senate race. The comments in it are reprehensible and do not reflect our campaign. We apologize. This staffer is no longer with the campaign” . The New York Post, which covers the mayoral race through its California Post vertical, reported the firing the same day under a headline calling Raman’s bid “in ‘disarray’” and contacting both the campaign and Cheng for comment — neither responded before publication . Cheng’s own account of the remarks, and any defense of them, remains absent from the public record.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The backlash ran entirely through the campaigns’ rival online operations: a Bass-aligned consultant’s quote-post drew the attention, a rival operative’s post surfaced the video, and the Raman campaign’s apology-and-firing statement followed on the same morning — roughly five hours after the video’s posting account flagged it . The firing was Cheng’s second public rebuke in a month: the FPPC’s September finding that influencers on Steyer’s campaign — Cheng among them — had not properly disclosed their payments had named him without ending his career, while the video cost him his position with the campaign outright . Neither Raman’s campaign nor the Post reported any further statement from Cheng .

Current Status

Cheng is no longer with Raman’s campaign as of the campaign’s November 2, 2026 statement, and no subsequent employer or role has been reported . The FPPC and L.A. Ethics Commission complaints that named his campaign work remain unadjudicated — the agencies declined to tell the Los Angeles Times where either case stands, and the campaign has denied any wrongdoing by Cheng . Cheng has not publicly responded to the video, the characterization of it, or his firing . Raman’s mayoral run continues; her campaign’s own ethical record, already the subject of the complaints, became an election issue again the same week .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Cheng’s firing shows how little insulation a campaign job now offers a political content creator: his value to the campaign was his fluency in the creator economy the job was built around, and the same personal-account content that made him useful ended his employment within hours once an opponent’s allies circulated it. The episode also sharpened the mayoral race’s existing ethics fight — Bass-aligned operatives now had a Raman staffer’s on-camera comments to cite alongside their complaint about undisclosed influencer payments, and the campaign’s apology acknowledged conduct it had earlier defended as outside its responsibility . For the influence industry the case lands alongside California’s new disclosure enforcement regime, where a creator’s off-message video can end a paid campaign role in a single news cycle .

Sources

New York Post, “Nithya Raman’s campaign fires staffer over Michigan Black vote comments,” November 2, 2026 — source
@nypost, trigger post on X, November 2, 2026 — source
@TeamNithya, firing statement on X, November 2, 2026 — source
@BonninMike, post surfacing Cheng’s video on X, November 2, 2026 — source
@mikehtrujillo, quote-post on X, November 2, 2026 — source
Los Angeles Times, “Bass lawyers help influencers file complaint against Raman campaign,” October 1, 2026 — source